The present invention relates to face and head protective apparel such as is normally used by welders, and the like, the invention particularly providing an elastically deformable band which is adjustable without removal of the apparel from the head of a user. Common practice in the construction industry and certain other fields requires the use of a protective headgear or "hard hat" by workers entering or performing work in hazardous areas. Welders or others requiring special facial protection must often work in these hazardous areas, a combination hard hat and face-protective shield being necessary to the usual practice of their trade. Prior hard hat/face shield combinations generally utilize lugs on the hard hat which couple with prongs on each side of the face shield, the hard hat and shield being separate, disconnectable structures. The face shield in such prior combinations can typically be tilted upwardly from the work position covering the face to a position wherein the lower edge of the face shield lies just above the line of vision of the wearer. The face shield thereby causes the combination to be "top heavy," i.e., to have a center of gravity located forward of the normal center of gravity of the hard hat and of the wearer, the combination thereby being susceptible to accidental displacement from the head of the wearer with normal head and body movement. When the wearer is working in high places, such as during construction of multi-story buildings or bridges, this tendency of prior hard hat/face shield combinations to "fall off" the head is not only disconcerting to the wearer but is also dangerous and wasteful of the worker's time.
Hard hat combinations of this type usually are provided with a suspension head harness and band disposed within the hard hat, the head band fitting over the cranial portion of the head. Such head bands are usually adjustable to fit the head size of a wearer. However, when perspiration or moisture from any other source causes the head band to become damp, the head band, and thus the hard hat, becomes loose on the head, thereby causing the hard hat to be susceptible to accidental displacement from the head. Although these prior art head bands can usually be adjusted when a poor fit develops during use, the act of adjustment requires that the hard hat be removed from the head. Work must then cease while the wearer uses both hands to adjust the head band in his hard hat. In many work situations, this adjustment process is difficult and even dangerous.
United States patents which disclose structure within the same field as the present invention and which are of interest in consideration of the patentability of the invention are as follows:
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,182,367 -- May 9, 1916 -- Gravell; 2,272,833 -- Feb. 10, 1942 -- Dockson; 2,631,286 -- Mar. 17, 1953 -- Bowers; 2,926,357 -- Mar. 1, 1960 -- Edwards et al.; 3,047,876 -- Aug. 7, 1962 -- Malcom; 3,332,086 -- July 25, 1967 -- Simpson et al.; 3,763,495 -- Oct. 9, 1973 -- De Angelis.
The present invention provides a head band structure for hard hats and particularly for hard hat/face shield combinations, which head band can preferably be of the suspension type. The present apparatus also provides a face shield mountable on a hard hat for tilting movement from the working position to a position fully above the hard hat whereby the center of gravity of the combination is more nearly centered above the head of the wearer. Due to the combined advantageous effects of the present head band and face shield mounting structures, an apparatus is provided which can be securely worn and adjusted for git by a user even in high winds, in high places and in volumetrically, physiologically, and psychologically "tight" places. The present hard hat is also made lighter in weight by the provision of cut-away portions or "scallops" formed in edge portions thereof, the scalloped portions being so located as to allow adjustment of the usual skull cap or "welding cap" typically worn under the hard hat by a welder, the cap thereby being adjustable without removal of the hard hat from the head of the wearer.
The present head band preferably takes the form of a rubber tube or rope-like segment of elastically deformable material, the segment being held within holes disposed in spaced end portions of a standard head band. The segment of elastically deformable material, which can comprise a short length of surgical tubing, or the like, has a diameter which is slightly larger than the diameter of the holes when the segment is in a non-stressed, dimensionally stable conformation. In order to adjust the tightness of the head band, the elastic segment is longitudinally stretched and is thereby reduced in diameter transversely to the longitudinal axis of the segment. The segment can then be moved through at least one of the holes to either tighten or loosen the head band, and thus the hard hat or hard hat/face shield combination, on the head of a wearer. When the adjustment has been suitably completed, longitudinally directed stress on the segment is released to allow the segment to regain its original diameter, the segment then being gripped in the adjusted position by the pressure exerted by the holes. The head band can thus expand and contract with movement of the skin and muscles of the head. The user of the present head band can even bend over to a 90.degree. or 120.degree. position without the hard hat falling from the head. Further, the head band can be rapidly adjusted without removal of the hard hat from the head and with the use of only one hand.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an adjustable head band for a protective head apparel, at least a portion of which is formed of an elastically deformable material to allow rapid adjustment of the fit of the apparel on the head of a user.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a mounting structure for a protective head and face apparel, such as a hard hat and face shield, wherein the face shield can be pivotally tilted from a work position to a rest position surmounting the hard hat, the center of gravity of the combination when in the rest position being substantially centered directly above the head of a user.
It is another object of the invention to provide scalloped portions about lower perimetric edge portions of a hard hat having an adjustable head band to allow access to said head band and to associated structure disposed adjacent thereto.
These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.